Ottawa, July 20, 2016. — Children aged 14 or less are invited to bring Victory nickels to the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association convention, at the Delta Ottawa Centre Hotel (101 Lyon) on Saturday July 23, to earn chances to win gold or silver coins.
Coin, token, and bank note collectors from across Canada and the United States are converging on Ottawa to participate in the annual convention of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Association, to be held at the Delta Ottawa Centre Hotel July 22-24, 2016.
“Collecting coins is a great way to learn history,” said Steve Woodland, president of the Ottawa Numismatic Society, which is hosting the convention. “We’re asking kids to bring Victory nickels because they’re easy to identify and there are plenty,” he said.
Victory nickels are 5-cent coins issued from 1943 to 1945 (as well as a commemorative issue in 2005) on which there is a large Roman numeral 5 (that is a V). Soon after, Canadians started to say that it was a V for Victory!
“They’re very interesting coins,” said Serge Pelletier, co-chair of the convention, “the 1943 pieces were struck in tombac, a type of brass, so they turned brown with age, while the 1944 and 1945 pieces were struck on chromium-plated steel. All of them have a Morse code message around the rim: ‘We win when we work willingly’.”
The kids will be given chances to win gold and silver coins depending on which coin they bring in (1 for 2005, 2 for 1945, 3 for 1944, and 4 for 1943). They can only bring one coin of each year.
Follow the activities of the convention on Twitter @rcna2016arnc.
For more information:
Serge Pelletier: 613-620-2905
Steve Woodland: 613-612-2808
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